Like many broke musos, Blackie is a very busy man.

When he popped into FBi recently he was touring with the Hard-Ons to celebrate their incredible, international, 30 year career: a wildly unexpected journey for a Croat, a Sri Lankan and a Korean who got together in Punchbowl to blast out pop, punk and metal for kicks, all that time ago.

He’s also just released his latest solo album – a surreal and somewhat stately trip through the mind of a unique Sydney character.

Blackie was highly reticent to play solo and acoustic in his Hard-Ons guise – but with other members frantic elsewhere at the time we had little choice. Happily, there was one song, written this way before taking it to the band, that serves as something of a bridge between these two contrasting musical realms.

Over the course of that performance – and subsequent discussion of the many roads travelled, both as a musician and (more literally) a cabbie – we discover a sardonic character with a very dry wit, pretty vital attributes considering some of his more recent history.

Two years ago Blackie suffered severe head injuries in an appalling attack while at work – and the recovery process was not easy or cheap. Suddenly, what seemed like thousands of people from all over the planet stepped up – chipping in to help pay medical bills and rent while he recovered.

Out of a dire time came some serious affirmation. Listen here and you might discover why.

Peter “Blackie” Black’s new solo record ‘The Paintings On The Wall Say Gambler! Gambler’ is out now through Citadel Records – as is the latest reissue from the Hard-Ons classic catalogue, 1990’s “Yummy“.

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